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A Network-Based HIV Prevention Intervention for Tajik Migrant Workers Who Inject Drugs

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Abstract

We developed and pilot-tested the Migrants’ Approached Self-Learning Intervention in HIV/AIDS for Tajiks (MASLIHAT). We recruited 30 Tajik labor migrants who inject drugs in Moscow as peer educators (PEs) to attend the 5-session intervention, then share what they learned with their peers. Each PE recruited two drug-injecting network members for interviewing about their drug and sexual behavior at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention. GEE and mixed effects regression tested time and participant type effects on each outcome. HIV knowledge and risk perception increased among both PEs and network peers, while use of shared syringes, condomless sex, sex with a sex worker, and alcohol use decreased significantly for both groups at 6 weeks and 3 months with a sustained effect through 6 months. The MASLIHAT intervention proved successful in disseminating HIV prevention information and reducing HIV risk behavior over 6 months among both PEs and network members.

Resumen

Desarrollamos y realizamos una prueba piloto de la Intervención de autoaprendizaje con enfoque de migrantes en el VIH / SIDA para tayikos (MASLIHAT). Reclutamos a 30 trabajadores migrantes tayikos que se inyectan drogas en Moscú como educadores de pares (EP) para asistir a la intervención de 5 sesiones y luego compartir lo que aprendieron con sus pares. Cada EP reclutó a dos miembros de la red de usuarios de drogas inyectables para entrevistarlos sobre su comportamiento sexual y con las drogas al inicio, 6 semanas, 3 meses y 6 meses después de la intervención. El GEE y la regresión de efectos mixtos probaron el tiempo y los efectos del tipo de participante en cada resultado. El conocimiento del VIH y la percepción del riesgo aumentaron tanto entre los EP como entre los compañeros de la red, mientras que el uso de jeringas compartidas, el sexo sin condón, el sexo con una trabajadora sexual y el consumo de alcohol disminuyeron significativamente para ambos grupos a las 6 semanas y 3 meses con un efecto sostenido durante 6 meses. La intervención MASLIHAT tuvo éxito en la difusión de información sobre la prevención del VIH y en la reducción de las conductas de riesgo del VIH durante 6 meses entre los EP y los miembros de la red.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the Open Science Framework repository through permission from the authors.

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (USA) under Award Number R21DA039068. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. We thank the Tajik Diaspora Union for its assistance and also the study’s participants and members of the MASLIHAT staff for making this research possible. We thank the Tajik Diaspora Union for its assistance and also the study’s participants and members of the MASLIHAT staff for making this research possible.

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (USA) under Award Number R21DA039068. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, MC 932, 1603 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Judith A. Levy & Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti

  2. PRISMA Research Center, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

    Makhbatsho Bakhromov & Jonbek Jonbekov

  3. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Carl A. Latkin

Authors
  1. Judith A. Levy
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  2. Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti
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  3. Makhbatsho Bakhromov
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  4. Jonbek Jonbekov
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  5. Carl A. Latkin
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Contributions

JL, CL and MB contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by MB and JJ. MM conducted the data analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JL and MM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics Approval

The study protocol was approved the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the PRISMA Research Center, and the Russian Autonomous NGO Scientific and Educational Center "Most v budushee".

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Levy, J.A., Mackesy-Amiti, M.E., Bakhromov, M. et al. A Network-Based HIV Prevention Intervention for Tajik Migrant Workers Who Inject Drugs. AIDS Behav 26, 719–727 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03431-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03431-5

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